A Return Engagement For 'Wedding Crashers'

New Line Home Entertainment's Wedding Crashers is crashing theaters again for one last big-screen toast before the DVD streets Jan. 3.

In partnership with Regal Entertainment Group's National CineMedia digital distribution arm, the comedy — which earned more than $200 million in theaters this summer — will air at 100 select theaters across the country on one night only, Jan. 2, the day before the DVD arrives in stores. The move is designed to both promote the disc and offer the theater chain some traffic on a slow day, Monday.

Theatergoers also will get a sneak peek at the extras on the disc, with a featurette including the film's stars, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, outlining “The Rules of Wedding Crashing,” plus a few minutes of deleted scenes from the movie.

The locations that will be offering the special screening will be promoting it all December, a month with strong movie attendance, said Matt Lasorsa, EVP of marketing for New Line.

“The more you can hit people from all angles, the better it reflects on the title,” he said.

Screenings such as these also offer the theatrical distributor a boost for a usually slow movie night, which was part of the theater chain's goal when planning the event, Lasorsa said.

“In this day and age where people are talking about the windows and everything else, to be able to put together a program that benefits the exhibitor at the same time it benefits us is kind of a neat thing,” he said.

It's the first time New Line has teamed up with National CineMedia for a release of this type. CineMedia hosts a slate of premieres like this every year, often for music-related programs, with select screenings timed to their DVD release dates. Last month featured Green Day's Bullet in a Bible and Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run 30th Anniversary.Wedding Crashers marks the third major feature film to get the CineMedia treatment. In October, select theaters hosted a screening of George A. Romero's Land of the Dead, featuring the unrated director's cut of the film, just before it hit DVD. In August, cast members from The Blues Brothers met up in Hollywood for a live satellite discussion broadcast to theaters across the country prior to screenings of the comedy the evening before The Blues Brothers: 25th Anniversary Edition DVD hit stores. Wedding Crashers will screen in 28 markets, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, San Diego, Seattle and Washington, D.C.